The Charlotte Hornets kick off their preseason schedule tonight with a game against the Philadelphia Tankers 76ers. Before we get a chance to see the Hornets in action this season, I thought I’d continue my season preview for the team. Part 1 of my preview was posted last week and featured a roster overview, team strengths, and the “Best Offensive Player”, among many other superlatives.
Here, I bring you Part 2 of my series where I’ll break down the NBA’s Southeast Division, offer up a Best/Worst case scenario for the Hornets, and give a Win/Loss prediction for the upcoming season. Buckle up Hornets fans, because the NBA season is almost here!
Southeast Division Breakdown:
The NBA’s Southeast Division has been owned by the Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic since the division was created back in 2004. Miami has won the division seven times, while Orlando won the division in the years Miami did not. However, this will be the first season that one of the other teams in the division (Atlanta, Charlotte, and Washington) take the crown.
John Wall and Bradley Beal look to lead the Wizards to the Southeast Division title this season.
The Washington Wizards are the preseason front runners to win the Southeast Division. I’ll let that sink in. THE WIZARDS ARE CONTENDERS! They will return an uber-talented backcourt lead by John Wall and Bradley Beal. This offseason the Wizards inked a deal with The Truth (a.k.a Paul Pierce) to play the small forward position to replace Trevor Ariza. With Marcin Gortat and Nené back in the paint, the Wizards will continue to gel and be a solid team in the East. Although, as I will mention, this division will be very competitive, I will call Washington the front runners.
Check out isportsweb.com’s Joaquin Jones’ preview of the Wizards roster here.
I will be breaking down Charlotte all season long, so I’ll keep it short here. With the addition of Lance Stephenson to the core of Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson, I believe Charlotte will push Washington for the division title by the end of the season.
Miami will be returning Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh from last season’s team that won the Eastern Conference Championship. However, the loss of LeBron James will be too much for Miami to retain their Southeast Division title this season. They brought in Luol Deng from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Josh McRoberts from Charlotte, but these players are simply glorified role players. With Wade and Bosh getting older and slower, I look for Miami to take a step back and finish in the middle of the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta is a major question mark in my book. Returning from injury will be Al Horford, who is arguably the Hawks best player. If Horford is able to return to his pre-injury form, the Hawks will be a major player in the Eastern Conference and in this division. I like the combination of Horford and Paul Millsap, and they can bring Pero Antic off the bench to provide some floor spacing from the center position (something that caused the Pacers to have nightmares in the playoffs last season). However, the Hawks are in the midst of some odd off the court distractions involving owner Bruce Levenson and GM Danny Ferry. I’m not sold on the Hawks right now, but I would not be surprised if they were right in the thick of the playoff race by mid-March.
Here is isportsweb.com’s Brian Garcia with a breakdown of the Hawks roster.
Finally, we have the Orlando Magic. This young Magic squad will not be very competitive this season and will finish last in the Southeast Division. I like Victor Oladipo, but I’m not sure what position he should play: PG or SG? The Magic drafted Elfrid Payton in the 1st round, so maybe they are going to use a lot of 2 PG sets, and allow Oladipo and Payton to become quasi-combo guards. Aaron Gordon was also taken in the 1st round by the Magic, but it looks like he will not contribute a lot right away. He is only 18 years old, but the main attribute he brings is energy, which is hard to quantify and does not immediately translate into points. Look for the Magic to have a lot of ping pong balls in the lottery for the next NBA Draft.
Best Case Scenario:
Lance Stephenson will be a key element of the Hornets attack this season.
The best case scenario for the Hornets this season is a Southeast Division championship and a top 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. This is a realistic goal for a Hornets team that is just beginning to scratch the surface of its potential. Hopefully, Al Jefferson will return to last season’s form after having foot surgery over the offseason and continues to dominate and command double teams in the paint. Lance Stephenson will add a spark to an offense that was a bit lethargic last season and his personality will calm a bit with a change of scenery. The best thing for the Hornets will be if their bench production begins to increase. As mentioned in previous articles, the bench play for the Hornets was very suspect last season. The front office made plenty of moves during the offseason to solidify the bench, and I believe that they will provide the Hornets with key minutes and allow the starters to rest.
Worst Case Scenario:
The worst case scenario for the Hornets is another season stuck in limbo between being a playoff team and a team watching the playoffs from the couch. I believe that the roster is too talented, barring injury, to miss the playoffs entirely, but they need to take the next step. It would be horrible for the team if Al Jefferson cannot recover from his foot surgery and is a shell of last year’s player. Team chemistry is another important concept that needs to be analyzed, and the signing of Lance Stephenson definitely shook things up a bit. If Stephenson cannot gel with his teammates and begins to become a locker room distraction, the Hornets could see themselves stuck in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Prediction:
I will not go into a game by game breakdown of the Hornets season because that will take too long and be too much information for you to process. I’ve gone over the Hornets schedule, though, and I predict that they will finish the season with a 49-33 record. Based on last season’s final standings, this would put them as the 3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. I understand that last season was an abnormally bad season for the East, so this record should put them around the 4/5 seed this season. I believe that obtaining a top 4 seed in the playoffs, which carries home court advantage in the 1st round, should be a major goal for the Hornets. If they do finish 4th, I believe that they will win their 1st round series (against Toronto) and play the Cleveland Cavailers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. LeBron James and Co. will be too much for the Hornets, though, and Charlotte’s season will end there.
As a Hornets fan, this would be considered a great season! We have been hoping for a competitive team for years, and a berth in the Eastern Conference Semifinals would be a major step forward for the franchise.
Look out for Part 3 of my three-part series, which will be out next week. I will be breaking down projected statistics for individual players on the Hornets roster. Can Big Al match last season’s numbers? How will Lance Stephenson perform? Find out more next week!
This article Charlotte Hornets: Team projections appeared first on isportsweb by Zachary Chandler